Greece over name; in September
1995, Skopje and Athens signed an interim accord resolving their
dispute over symbols and certain constitutional provisions; Athens
also lifted its economic embargo on The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia; 20 bilateral agreements remain unsigned in a dispute over
Bulgarian nonrecognition of Macedonian as a language distinct from
Bulgarian; the border commission formed by The Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro in April 1996 to
resolve differences in delineation of their mutual border has made no
progress so far; Albanians in Macedonia claim discrimination in
education, access to public-sector jobs and representation in
government; Party for Democratic Action (DPA) calls for a rewrite of
the constitution to declare ethnic Albanians a national group and
allow for regional autonomy

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and
hashish; minor transit point for South American cocaine

______________________________________________________________________

MADAGASCAR

@Madagascar:Geography

Location: Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of
Mozambique

Geographic coordinates: 20 00 S, 47 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 587,040 sq km
land: 581,540 sq km
water: 5,500 sq km

Area-comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Arizona

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 4,828 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or 100 nm from the 2,500-m isobath
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south

Terrain: narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Maromokotro 2,876 m

Natural resources: graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt, quartz,
tar sands, semiprecious stones, mica, fish

Land use:
arable land: 4%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 41%
forests and woodland: 40%
other: 14% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 10,870 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic cyclones

Environment-current issues: soil erosion results from deforestation
and overgrazing; desertification; surface water contaminated with raw
sewage and other organic wastes; several species of flora and fauna
unique to the island are endangered

Environment-international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Spe